Samsung Electronics today introduced its new M80 SATA Series and M80 Series
2.5-inch hard disk drives. Both series utilize Perpendicular Magnetic Recording
(PMR) technology, feature an optional free-fall sensors and offer increased
storage capacity. Both the M80 SATA and M80 Series comes in
80GB, 120GB and 160GB sizes.

Samsung’s newest 2.5-inch drives offer users increased damage
risk protection by incorporating free-fall sensors, which feature a minimum fall
detection rate of 30cm. Hard drives enabled with the sensor are able to detect
changes in acceleration caused by a freefall, and park the drive’s
head on the ramp and turns the hard drive off, protecting it from damage.

The M80 SATA and M80 Series feature an 8MB cache and a 5,400rpm spindle speed
and comes equipped with the Hybrid Latch System, a
mechanism that eliminates rattling noises and reduces the clicking noise
generated when a drive moves its heads on and off the disk.

The M80 SATA and M80 Series are Samsung’s first hard drives
based on PMR technology. Unlike traditional longitudinal recording technology,
which lays data bits end to end where they can flip and corrupt data on the
disc, PMR technology places the data bits perpendicular to the disc, which
reduces the corruption factor. In addition, by placing the data bits standing on
end, more data can fit onto a disc, allowing for greater storage capacity.